3 Bodyweight Crawling Exercises (Video)

Al Kavadlo


New York City, New York, United States

Bodyweight Exercise

Welcome to our series featuring calisthenics expert Al Kavadlo. This week, Al casts the spotlight on three different variations of crawling, a full-body exercise that improves athletic performance, strength, balance, and agility. There are many more ways to crawl than just the ones featured here. As long as you are low to the ground and moving on all fours, you are giving your core a really tough workout!


  • Bear Crawl - Keep your elbows and knees from bending, and let your hips stick up in the air.
  • Spider Crawl - This crawl is the exact opposite of the bear crawl. Let your hips stay low to the ground, and bend your knees and elbows as you keep your four limbs out to the sides.
  • Grok Crawl - Named affectionately by Mark Sisson, this crawl lies in between the other two in terms of technique. While your arms are straight, your legs are bent so that your back is flat and your hips are in line with your head.


These exercises put you in positions that are harder to maintain than they appear. But if you still feel like you want to bump your workout up a notch, try crawling faster - a lot faster.


You can also program workouts so that you get up from and back into the crawling position. Getting up and down repeatedly is challenging, as you are fighting gravity and exerting energy to return to the position you were just in before. Try out these fun moves and let us know how it goes!



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